SINGAPORE (REUTERS) - Ascendas Hospitality Trust managers said they were reviewing options after receiving an unsolicited expression of interest (EOI) to buy out all its stapled securities, in what could be further consolidation in Singapore's property trusts.

Ascendas Hospitality Trust is a stapled trust comprising of Ascendas Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust and Ascendas Hospitality Business Trust. A stapled security is an arrangement under which different securities are quoted jointly.

"The managers have therefore initiated discussions with various parties to evaluate the viability of the EOI," they said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 23).

"The managers wish to emphasise that the discussions are presently at an early stage," they added. "Accordingly, there is no certainty that any definitive agreement will be entered into and there is no certainty that any transaction will materialise from the current discussions."

Bankers and fund managers have said Singapore's property trusts are set to see more M&As at a time when valuations have dropped and interest rates are set to rise.

The Straits Times

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